Top activities in Rome in May 2025

Primo Maggio Concert

May kicks off with Labour Day, or the Festa del Lavoro, a public holiday in Italy. Rome will mark the event with a free concert or “concertone” in the newly restyled Piazza di San Giovanni in Laterano. The line-up of Italian acts includes Lucio Corsi, Gabry Ponte, Gaia, Franco126, and Brunori Sas. The Primo Maggio concert will begin at 15.00 and lasts until around midnight.

Free Museums Sunday

State museums and archaeological sites in Rome and across Italy will open for free on Sunday 4 May. The free landmark sites in the capital range from the Capitoline Museums to the Museo Forma Urbis where visitors can walk across a glass floor over the surviving fragments of a famed marble map of ancient Rome.

Italian Open

Rome hosts the 81st edition of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia, also known as the Italian Open, with the world’s top tennis stars battling it out at the Foro Italico from 29 April until 18 May. Ahead of the prestigious tennis event, the city has set up a red clay court in Piazza del Popolo where the public can watch pre-qualifying men’s and women’s games twice a day – at 11.00 and 15.00 – until 3 May.

Race for the Cure

The Komen Race for the Cure takes place on the streets of central Rome on Sunday 11 May to raise funds and awareness for breast cancer. The charity sporting event is divided into three categories: a non-competitive 5-km run; a 2-km walk; and a competitive 5-km race. The main event is preceded by a three-day festival of health and fitness workshops, family activities, and free medical screening at the Race Village in the Circus Maximus.

Spanish Steps in Full Bloom

Visitors to the Spanish Steps will be able to enjoy one of Rome’s most spectacular spring traditions: hundreds of flowering azaleas decorate the historic staircase linking Piazza di Spagna with the church of Trinità de’ Monti. The azaleas will remain in place until 18 May after which they will be returned to the city nurseries until next spring.

Rose Garden

Another much-anticipated spring tradition in Rome is the reopening of the city’s rose garden on the slopes of the Aventine Hill. Home to more than 1,000 varieties of botanical, ancient, and modern roses from all over the world, the Roseto Comunale can be visited every day from 08.30 to 19.30 until 16 June. Visits are free and no reservation is required.

Night of Museums

Rome’s city-run museums will stay open until 02.00 on the night of Saturday 17 May as the capital celebrates Notte dei Musei or Night of Museums. The popular initiative will include free performances of live music, concerts, theatre, and dance in municipal museums, from 20.00 until 02.00, with a symbolic entry fee of just €1.

Piazza di Siena

The 92nd edition of the Piazza di Siena horse show takes place in Rome’s Villa Borghese park, both in the Piazza di Siena grounds and the Galopattoio, from 21-25 May. The prestigious five-day event, described by organizers as “the most beautiful horse show in the world,” is open to the public and features the cream of international show jumpers in competition.

Exhibitions in Rome

The Rome exhibition that everyone is talking about is the Caravaggio blockbuster, hailed as among the most important and ambitious showcases ever dedicated to the Baroque genius. Other big new exhibitions in Rome include Munch at Palazzo Bonaparte, and, Flowers at the Chiostro del Bramante, and I Farnesi at the Capitoline Museums.

We update the information on this list regularly and add new events as they are announced. For more events and things to do in Rome see our What’s On guide, while for daily News from Italy in English see our News section.